Résumé The competitive advantage of velvet beans as an economic agricultural commodity. In the past 40 years, although food insecurity, poverty and environmental degradation persist, worldwide farmers have made considerable progress in increasing per capita food production whilst better understanding natural-resource management. Literature indicates that — in the decades to come — food demand will both grow and change for three reasons, namely increased numbers of people, increased income (people will have more purchasing power), and increased urbanisation (people will be more likely to adopt new diets containing animal protein and cereal). The world population is expected to increase to 8,9 billion by 2050, with 84% in the developing countries. Food insecurity and malnutrition are expected to persist despite progress on average per capita consumption of food. As a complex system, and despite challenges, agriculture must produce simultaneously unprecedented abundance of food and unparalleled social concerns. As a business, agriculture requires high capital investments in land, facilities and production inputs ; most often producing commodities of generally low unit value with thin profit margins, thereby forcing producers to strive for efficiency in all aspects of production. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that farmers should understand sustainable agriculture ; where a more sustainable food-production system seeks to make the best use of nature’s goods and services whilst not being harmful to the environment. Sustainable agriculture should maximise the productivity of the land ; should focus on locally adapted resource-conserving technologies which assist whole system redesign and large-scale adoption ; and should aim to minimise the use of harmful non-renewable and fossil-fuel derived inputs. Fertilisers have not replaced the function of organic matter and other management practices ; but soil erosion and toxic waste rather did increase disproportionately along with increased agricultural production.